Still having a ton of trouble with stepping my mast, with a friend helping. Yesterday I had the step link break after 2 attempts causing us to abandon the entire process. It seems when I get the mast near vertical, the mast base does not seat correctly in the mast step, actually seating a bit forward of where the bowl is. I had my friend try and push the mast base aft which sometimes works but not this time, so went to de-step and then link broke. DOH! I saw there were two bolt holes in the mast step link and I was using the outter one, which was a slightly larger opening. Could that be the cause for the mast base not seating properly?

So far mast stepping has been my biggest obstacle. Everything else is falling into place.

Also noticed a 1"x3" chunk of my mast track (comp tip portion) that had cracked off. I filed it down so the sail won't get caught on it's way up but any suggestions on how to repair that?

For the beginer, have the helper stand in front of the mast facing the rear of the boat as the mast is being raised. As the mast is lifted past about 60 degrees to verical, the helper pushes the base of the mast towards the rear of the boat. This ensures the ball drops into the cup.

For the experienced (anyway this is way I do it), put my right foot on the back crossbar and lift the mast to my shoulder and let it rest there a couple seconds. Next I take a deep breath and lift it above my head and walk forward to bring it all the way up - but during this last bit I slow the lift for just an instant and push downward on the mast causing the mastlink to rotate downward putting the ball in cup and continue lifting until is all the way up.

I have been stepping my mast solo for years and did as described above, stopping part way up to get the mast to toggle back. I lost some upper body strength after a heart operation and found I couldn't quite get it to work. There is another answer to the problem. Murray Marine sells an after-market mast hinge link that doesn't require the "toggling" of the standard link. The new link works without the hesitation step but it must be completely removed for sailing. As to the standard link, you were using the right hole. The link is used for two different boats. If you look closely you should see a 14 and a 16 stamped on the link, indicating which position to use for each of the boats.

Look for the above thread "Hobie 16 mast stepping", I posted a photo of the rig I use to raise the Mast. It`s simple, cheap, and safe. Ask me as many questions as you want, I`ll be glad to show you how I raise it.

_________________Every second that passes cannot be recovered, so make good use of every one of them that you have left.